10 Most American-Made Cars of 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. ( TheStreet) -- A U.S. company can produce a car and assemble it here, but it takes more than that to make it "American."

Buying from a U.S.-based maker hasn't guaranteed an "American-made" in a long time, but even a car with 80% American-made parts isn't "American" if it isn't assembled here. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration admits there's no such thing as a 100% American car and notes that one of its most "American" vehicles -- the 80% U.S.-produced Dodge Caravan -- has a motor made in Mexico and is assembled in Canada.

Twenty years ago, Congress passed the American Automobile Labeling Act requiring cars to have labels specifying their percentage of U.S./Canadian parts, the country of assembly and the country of origin for the engine and transmission. The NHTSA has compiled lists of these vehicles for each model year to help consumers who care about such things get more homegrown product for their money.

The following are the 10 vehicles assembled in the U.S. using the most U.S. and Canadian parts:

Japanese automakers not only have a stranglehold on the all-American family minivan -- they're the only companies making them in the United States. Chrysler may have dominated the minivan market in the '90s, but today they assemble only their Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country in Canada. The Toyota Sienna ( TM) gives families the room they need with the V6 power they want when family road trips seem particularly interminable. The Sienna was the only minivan on this list last year, but its rival stepped up its game a bit.

The best-selling vehicle of last year that wasn't a pickup was made in a U.S. plant that's been turning out Toyotas since 1988. This mainstay midsize sedan is one of only two on this list and is the only one that's guaranteed to be around next year. In fact, Toyota is responsible for two-thirds of the sedans on this list. Have the rest of America's automakers completely forgotten how to build a sedan in this country, or is the utilitarian four-door falling out of favor? Unfortunately for everyone else, the numbers suggest the former.

Judging by this map of the United States put together by Jalopnik indicating each state's best-selling car, it's a wonder that the middle of the country isn't in complete revolt with the F-150 this far down the list. The best-selling vehicle in America and the truck that's been carrying ma and apple pie to the baseball game since 1948 is an American icon, but has the same amount of American parts and production as the San Antonio, Texas-built Toyota Tundra. Still, Ford ( F) consistently culls three-quarters of the F-150's material from the U.S. and assembles it here. The same can't always be said for the 67% American-made Chevy Silverado and Ram, which are sometimes assembled in Mexico.

It has a 3.6-liter V6 engine, 283 horsepower and sold nearly 97,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year -- the most since it was reintroduced in 2007. So why is it in limbo after this model year? Because Fiat and Chrysler are still sorting out their brands. First there was a chance it would come back as the Dodge Aspen. Then it was suggested last month that it may reappear as a Chrysler and replace the 200. What we do know, however, is that it probably won't be a Dodge and won't be called the Avenger. When the folks in Sterling Heights figure out exactly what it will be -- and there's still a chance it could come out of this mess as an Alfa Rome Volare -- they'll let you know.

Get used to seeing Honda ( HMC) thanks to its commitment to working in Ohio and its embrace of the big family vehicle. The Crosstour is basically an Accord wagon and was actually named the Accord Crosstour until last year. Honda wants it to be considered a crossover so badly, but the Crosstour continues to pick up the wagon market that competitors such as Subaru and Volvo are leaving for dead. This year's redesign gave it a more powerful engine, but that combined 23 miles per gallon is gluttonous even for an American crossover.

It can carry five family members, store drinks and snacks in a center-console "cool box" and collapse its third row to offer 93.1 cubic feet for more storage. Oh, and there's the optional 16.2-inch split screen entertainment system that lets passengers watch two programs at once. It's just your average American road trip vehicle built by a company based in Tokyo.

American automakers still know how to make a big, burly utility vehicle on home soil, even in the age of the downsized crossover. The Enclave and Traverse's three rows of seating and 116 cubic feet of cargo space is still at the top of its class. General Motors' ( GM) sales of each were increasing steadily until last year, when the company decided the models needed a facelift and gave them some new body work, liftgates and tech toys.

Toyota makes this full-size car in America for Americans. With lots of room and safety features, just the right amount of luxury features and a combined 35 miles per gallon, the Avalon is good for picking the kids up at school or dropping them off at college and hitting the city afterward. The Avalon used to have a tough time cracking that 30 mpg barrier, but this year's upgrade to the Lexus ES frame trimmed fuel economy without taking away any of the space or toys American buyers loved.

Call it the baseball team van, call it the church youth group minibus, call it the airport shuttle, but just don't call it small. Usually a working van for contractors or emergency responders, the Express and Sierra are also popular enough as people movers to soak up nearly 45% of America's full-sized van market. That's still behind Ford's E-Series, but GM has a stronger claim to the Made in the U.S.A. Label. That's also a lot of families of eight in search of a lift home.

Toyota's Avalon held this top spot last year, but Ford added a bit more red, white and blue to the supply chain. A bit of a dinosaur by industry standards, the Expedition was born to fight the SUV wars of more than a decade ago. It's still built on an F-150 pickup platform, comes with a standard 5.4-liter V8 engine, pumps out more than 300 horsepower and has 9,200 pounds of towing capacity. It's supposed to to beat up on Chevy Suburbans, GMC Yukons, Dodge Durangos, Nissan ( NSANY)Armadas and Toyota Sequoias. Like the Expedition, though, most of those models peaked in the '90s and have bottomed out since. Ford sold 233,000 in 1999 before selling just 38,000 last year. That's still better than the 31,000 it moved during the economic downturn in 2009, but considering 20% of those sales came from Texas alone, this one-time mass-market marvel is slowly being relegated to a niche market.

Jason Notte is a reporter for TheStreet. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Esquire.com, Time Out New York, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix, the Metro newspaper and the Colorado Springs Independent. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S., layout editor for Boston Now, assistant news editor for the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., editor of Go Out! Magazine in Hoboken, N.J., and copy editor and lifestyle editor at the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, N.J.